(Alumni) Update on Sam Pealstrom

December 22, 2010

Sam Pealstrom, who became an active member of the MWAH! troupe in 2003 at the age of 12, was deployed on November 3, 2010 to Afghanistan as a U.S. Marine.
The following is an excerpt from a story written by Donna DeFalco that appeared in The Beacon-News of Aurora, Illinois on April 13, 2004:

In the skit, troupe member Sam Pealstrom, 13, a student a Washington Middle School in Aurora, walked to the center of the stage with his head buried in his hands, obviously upset. Another teen, Joshua Welton, 14, an eighth grader at Waldo Middle School in Aurora, offered words of encouragement. 'Believe in yourself,' Welton said. 'Take charge of yourself. You can do it. You can stand on mountains and you can walk on stormy seas. You can. And you will.' Pealstrom, who was left sitting alone, hears hateful words over the loudspeaker and tries to cover his ears against the onslaught. (a MWAH! drama piece as performed at Granger Middle School in Aurora and keyed to the lyrics of the Josh Groban song 'You Raise Me Up')

Another story that appeared in The Argus of Rock Island, Illinois on September 24, 2004 referred to Sam's energizing the punk rockers in the audience with his cover songs of 'The Anthem' by Good Charlotte and 'Perfect' by Simple Plan.

Sam, who turned 20 in January 2011, is living the message from that skit when he was 13.

Completing his basic military training at Camp Pendleton near San Diego and stationed at 29 Palms prior to his deployment, Sam's current tour of duty is four years of active service followed by four years inactive.

Feb 2014: He's still in the military and doing an excellent job in serving our country.